PhoneTalk

Following the MetroPCS announcement of offering an unlimited data plan for a limited time, T-Mobile added to the buzz and announced a 4G unlimited data plan. Although, the plan won’t be available until early next month we do have information on the details. The Unlimited Nationwide 4G data plan will cost $20 a month when added to a Value voice and text plan. If you have a Classic voice and text plan and want to add the Unlimited Nationwide 4G data option it will cost $30 a month. If you’re an existing T-Mobile customer and want access to this plan just upgrade your service and add it.

In addition to adding another Android smartphone to its line-up with the LG Motion, MetroPCS also unveiled a new plan. First, more details on the phone. The LG Motion is a high-end Android 4.0 phone sporting a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 5-megapixel camera with the ability to record 1080p HD video, and the ability to take photos while recording video. It also works on the 4G LTE network and offers the users the ability to talk and surf the web over the network.

The new plan announced has a lot to offer and helps take the guess work out of monthly bills. That’s right, it’s an unlimited plan. For $55 a month users with this plan get unlimited talk, text, and 4G LTE data. Those with family plans can get the plan as well, but it will cost $50 a month on the account’s second, third, and fourth lines. The plan will only be offered for a limited time.

Update: Verizon's New Share Everything plans are now available. Interest in making the switch? Here are more plan details.

This month Verizon announced a new type of plan that’s all about sharing the data. The new plans are called “Share Everything Plans” and up to 10 Verizon Wireless devices can be on the plan. That includes tablets, smartphones, Jetpack mobile hotspots, basic phones, and netbooks/notebooks. The idea is simple: Pay a monthly fee for each device on a plan and then an additional fee for the amount of data (1GB, 2GB, etc.) those devices will share a month.

The plans also include unlimited voice minutes, unlimited text, video and picture messaging for all devices on the Share Everything Plan. Plus the Mobile HotSpot feature, which is an additional fee to activate on other plans, is included as well. Just be aware that the data used with the Mobile HotSpot feature will come out of the shared data pool. If this is a feature that will be used a lot, keep that in mind when selecting a data option. Here’s the breakdown of the cost of each device on the plan:

Smartphones - $40
Basic Phone - $30
Jetpacks/USBs/Notebooks/Netbooks - $20
Tablets - $10

Here’s what data will cost:

1GB - $50
2GB - $60
4GB - $70
6GB - $80
8GB - $90
10GB - $100

To get an idea of what the monthly fee looks like, here’s an example:

2 Smartphones ($80) + 1 Tablet ($10) + 2GB of data to be shared ($60) = $150

For $150 (before monthly fees) service includes unlimited text, calls, and picture messaging, with the ability to use the Mobile HotSpot feature, and 2GB of data to be shared among all devices. Is it a great deal? It really depends on how much data you use monthly and that can be found out by looking at the monthly bill. Plus, Verizon includes a data usage meter on its devices that’s worth checking out to see how much data is actually being used by each individual device on the plan. For even more help check out this tool from Verizon.

The plans will be available on June 28th; however, there’s no requirement to switch from a family plan to a Share Everything Plan. There are no additional fees to switch to the new plan and switching also won’t extend an existing contract.

It’s been reported that some people who were among the first to purchase the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone experienced trouble getting a data connection. According to this CNET article, Nokia has confirmed that there is indeed a glitch in some of the earlier models. The issue is a result of a combination of memory management and software. There will be a software update rolled out to the cell phones on April 16th that should fix the problem. In the meantime, Nokia is offering $100 credit for the service bill to those with affected phones until midnight on April 21, 2012.

Smartphones can do a lot these days. For example, searching Google for a nearby restaurant, streaming movies, sending/receiving e-mails, and even streaming music all require a data connection if you’re not using WiFi. Each of those tasks requires various amounts of data and going over the allotted amount of monthly data can be costly. In addition to that type of usage, there are also texting (it can be a costly endeavor without an unlimited data plan) and voice calls.

Verizon has come up with a way to help customers better manage usage. The company’s new controls, which are available to Verizon customers on the My Verizon portal includes features like receiving text message alerts when a monthly usage allotment is getting close to being met (this can be used for voice calls, text messaging, and content purchases), or parents can set time restrictions on when the phone can be used. The service costs a monthly fee of $4.99 per line.

Tomorrow, at 2:00 PM PST, I'll be hosting a chat on LetsTalk's Facebook page. I’ll be taking questions about phones, plans, apps, CES, and can even help Facebook fans pick the best phone for them. If there's something you want to know about mobile, but didn't know who to ask stop by and ask me on Facebook at 2:00 PM PST this Friday.

Looking for a new Verizon cell phone, but aren't really interested in getting one that requires a data plan? We can help. We've compiled a list of all Verizon cell phones currently available that don't require a data plan.

If you want a phone that can make calls, take pictures, play music, and send texts check out the models listed below. If you want to send texts, you'll need to include that option when you select a plan. Verizon offers messaging in many of the company's Talk and Text plans. You'll find many of these phones are good starter models for tweens and teens. In particular, the LG Cosmos Touch is a touchscreen phone that has lots of functionality and expandable memory. This makes it an ideal choice for people who want to do more with a cell phone, but aren't quite ready for a smartphone.

• Casio G'zOne Ravine
• Casio G'zOne Ravine 2
• LG Cosmos 2
• LG Cosmos Touch
• LG Octane
• LG Revere
• Pantech Hotshot
• Pantech Jest 2
• Samsung Convoy
• Samsung Gusto
• Samsung Intensity II

Interested in getting a new T-Mobile cell phone, but don't want the added cost of a monthly data plan fee? No worries, we've compiled a list of phones that don't require a data plan. There are still a few cell phones that are ideal for people who like to text, snap a few pictures, and have a conversation or two available at T-Mobile. In particular, the Samsung Gravity 3 even sports a slide-out tactile QWERTY keyboard, which makes texting on-the-go a breeze.

• Samsung Gravity 3
• Samsung Gravity TXT
• Samsung t139

Are you interested in a more basic cell phone? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Getting a data plan with a cell phone has become more of a requirement this past year. It makes sense since many of the feature-rich and smartphones are built around web-based connectivity including access to social media apps such as Facebook and viewing videos on YouTube. That said there are still plenty of people who just want a phone that can make calls, take pictures, and send texts. It's true that If you want to send texts, you'll need to include that option when you select a plan. Sprint offers messaging in many of the company's Sprint Talk plans. In light of that, here's a list of cell phones from Sprint that don't require a data plan. You'll find these phones tend to be more compact and some such as the Kyocera Brio and the eco-friendly Samsung Replenish even sport a tactile QWERTY keyboard.

• Kyocera Brio
• Kyocera DuraCore
• Kyocera DuraMax
• LG Rumor Touch
• Samsung Replenish
• Samsung Trender
• Sanyo Taho by Kyocera  

Are you interested in a more basic cell phone? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Opera has been a player in the desktop browser market since the days of mailed AOL CDs and 56k modems. It would make sense, then, that a developer with this much experience would make quite a splash in the mobile world.

• Speed: The Opera Mobile browser blew away the competition in terms of speed. It loaded the mobile CNN site in about 5 seconds and the full site in a paltry 25 seconds. Surfing site-to-site felt great using this browser and it shot around the Internet faster than any other browser in this round up. Sites loaded even faster after they had been visited and stored in the cache. Clearly, Opera spent time optimizing this browser to work fast and it did an outstanding job. Scrolling around pages was silky smooth with nary a jitter in sight, and the zoom seamlessly moved in and out.
• Page Display: Opera handled every page visited well, loading it quickly and properly. Embedded flash videos played perfectly – a definite plus. One of the product’s claims is smooth panning for surfing the web in a more intuitive way. It certainly lived up to that claim. We were impressed with the way it automatically zooms to text fields when you tap on them making it easier to see what’s being typed, though occasionally it did zoom in after an errant tap on the screen. Opera sports an ability to open pages in a “Single Column View,” which eliminates the need to scroll side to side. This was a bit of a mixed bag, though, since too many pages appeared cluttered. Like Dolphin HD, Opera Mobile 11.1 offers user the ability to change their user agents to simulate either a mobile or desktop browser making it easy to switch between full sites and their mobile counterparts. The browser did lack a simple button to go to full screen mode. On a mobile display every pixel counts, and diving through a menu to hide the status bar at the top isn’t ideal.

(Read more)

- Speed - Smooth scrolling - Opera Link	- Fewer features - Lacks true tabbed browsing - Not a ton of settings	- Single column view

In this edition, we cover CTIA’s new initiative to help stop cell phone bill shock, the new DROID Razr by Motorola for Verizon, the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone and Android 4.0 codename "Ice Cream Sandwich", and two new phones from Sprint. Get information on how to get free premium apps from BlackBerry. Finally, find out how to enter the Scavenger Hunt.